R&B beats and recording

what up what up. I got 4 R&B chicks ive been working with, and i like the contrast between and r and b session and a hip hop session. As far as the beats, im having trouble with ballad type beats, but maybe im under equipped. Any of yall make a ballad with just samples, no keyboards or synths?

Also any tips yall have as far as the actual recording would be nice. Making the singer comfortable, setting the mood, what effects are normally used on a singers voice. I started flowers with a standard delay chorus effect and its pretty cool. Also, how do i make the singer come out of her shell? I mean, i feel these chicks are holding back on me for some reason.

What do i give the chicks to drink for their voices? i heard cold water is bad. Maybe tea?

Is weed bad for a singers voice? These chicks all smoke, and they swear its good for the voice haha (except my girl suzy Q she wont smoke if shes gonna sing)

all you r and b cats let me know what your doing to make a good product.
and any of yall producers that make r and b, if you need to get rid of some beats, these females are ready to blow on em. thanx for your time PEACE OUT

well i think anything is bad if it affects your throat...so i wouldnt recommend heavy smoking. smoking also causes phlem...if they got a bunch of crap in their throat, it cant be good for the vocals..

i did a ballad type track with just samples. you might remember it...is this what you mean? its kinda rough, but its all samples...

http://wiredsounds.com/music/WorldwideIntro.mp3

as far as being under equipped i doubt it. all it takes is the right sounds. that right record...that right feel. thats all. ill tell you what...the more and more you do those types of tracks, the more you become familiar with it. so it gets easier. same with the ladies you work with. im a strong believer that the more you do something the easier it is for you...just like performing on stage. the first time you may be real shy or get scared. but the more you do it, the more you feel comfortable...liquor really opens people up in mysterious ways! i dont always recommend that, d, but aye! lol...good luck brova. if you need a track for some singers let me know. maybe i have something you can use?

You don't need a synth to produce r and b music but it would make it easier. When you use samples its just more difficult. You should try and get into recording live instruments cause you got that good instrument recording mic. (sm57)I just figured out how to record my acoustic electric guitar into my dps 12 the other day. That has kind of motivated me to start practicing more. Most r and b ballads are made up of basic piano, string, and guitar melodies. Most of the time each instrument has a different melody also. You can find good playable piano samples on almost any classical record just listen to the whole thing until you find a good sustained piano key. Then you can just pitch that as you wish and play your own melody. This same technique goes for strings. As for making the singer comfortable you should probably ask them. I don't think weed is the best thing for your voice. I have heard before that lemon juice helps.

grimaybeats555 wrote:You don't need a synth to produce r and b music but it would make it easier. When you use samples its just more difficult. You should try and get into recording live instruments cause you got that good instrument recording mic. (sm57)I just figured out how to record my acoustic electric guitar into my dps 12 the other day. That has kind of motivated me to start practicing more. Most r and b ballads are made up of basic piano, string, and guitar melodies. Most of the time each instrument has a different melody also. You can find good playable piano samples on almost any classical record just listen to the whole thing until you find a good sustained piano key. Then you can just pitch that as you wish and play your own melody. This same technique goes for strings. As for making the singer comfortable you should probably ask them. I don't think weed is the best thing for your voice. I have heard before that lemon juice helps.

cool man thanx! yeah ive recorded a live guitar once too, just plugged it into my roland vs890. But yeah, i guess i could find some musicians. I can program the drums just fine haha, but whenever i try and add the samples it gets corny. Im used to making either rugged hip hop beats, or bugged out experimental tracks.

dstruction wrote:bugged out experimental tracks.

I have been doing alot of these lately. I'll let you hear one of mine if you let me hear one of yours. Mine are still kind of hip hop. I haven't let myself branch all the way out yet.

grimaybeats555 wrote:

dstruction wrote:bugged out experimental tracks.

I have been doing alot of these lately. I'll let you hear one of mine if you let me hear one of yours. Mine are still kind of hip hop. I haven't let myself branch all the way out yet.

i cant let yall hear them until im ready to unviel this new genre of music ive been working on for about 5 years. totally different that anything out there. I feel its time for a new genre

get a good chord seq down- get the bird to jam over it- if you get anything good then build an accompanying beat for it- as rn'b isnt beat driven you need work on the hook first and foremsot- then its just a case of getting some glassy 24-bit drum hits and using them- yoiu can get away with very minimal beats if the hook is strong enough...

also consider

counter melody - a second melody
ostinato - changing the underlying bassline whilst keeping the chords the same (and vice versa)
key changes
chord substitution

for variations of course....

may be something like this:

main theme/ verse
main hook
main verse (with chord subs/ counter melody etc)
main hook
middle 8 (use a key change here perhaps?)
main hook (in new key or keep the same but try with different underlying bass to change the mood)
main hook

this is probably a bit off the point to you d but it will help ya a lot if you can think of the tracks as whole songs with movement...

greg

dstruction wrote:

grimaybeats555 wrote:

dstruction wrote:bugged out experimental tracks.

I have been doing alot of these lately. I'll let you hear one of mine if you let me hear one of yours. Mine are still kind of hip hop. I haven't let myself branch all the way out yet.

i cant let yall hear them until im ready to unviel this new genre of music ive been working on for about 5 years. totally different that anything out there. I feel its time for a new genre

Wow! A whole new genre. It is time for a new genre. I barely listen to hip hop now anyways.

dstruction,

put some reverb in her headphones so she hears some depth in her voice. WHen vocalists hear the depth in their tone they tend to feel more confident and will sing out more.

If I got 4 girls in my studio....there would be some marvin gaye on the cd player...and try to make a move to those girls....5-some

dubmunkey wrote:get a good chord seq down- get the bird to jam over it- if you get anything good then build an accompanying beat for it- as rn'b isnt beat driven you need work on the hook first and foremsot- then its just a case of getting some glassy 24-bit drum hits and using them- yoiu can get away with very minimal beats if the hook is strong enough...

also consider

counter melody - a second melody
ostinato - changing the underlying bassline whilst keeping the chords the same (and vice versa)
key changes
chord substitution

for variations of course....

may be something like this:

main theme/ verse
main hook
main verse (with chord subs/ counter melody etc)
main hook
middle 8 (use a key change here perhaps?)
main hook (in new key or keep the same but try with different underlying bass to change the mood)
main hook

this is probably a bit off the point to you d but it will help ya a lot if you can think of the tracks as whole songs with movement...

greg

Thanks even though it wasn't for me. *Printing Now*

water at room temp is ok, no cold water though

maybe u should cater to their needs - make em feel like divas or somat

jus dont let it get to their heads, in which case u shud put em rite back in their place

word up guys

when I record singers I've noticed that the more tracks you do the louder they get and more feeling they give, so if the first track isn't as loud or as strong as you want it but the timing and evereything else is on point keep it and let it play while you record the next track then the next track, tell them to put more into it while doing this, then eventually you can delete the first couple tracks, this has worked for me plenty times, and like you said they have to feel comfortable, sometimes there may be to many people in the room, they also need to feel confident so I'd be positive when giving them direction, tell them what they're doing good then tell them what they need to change

1 beer/ coctail ,no pot until it's all mixed down. Smoke when you feel good about what you've done, and to hear things in a diff state of mind.

the drink is just to let down a little inhibition, pot may create more.

and..... i def. agree with^^^^^ record several tracks of vox and after a few they start to feel a little warmer/ less tense, just my experience.

good luck